Thules

The Thule Society

Season(s)

Species

Status

Active

Occupation

Magic Practitioners

Portrayed by

Various

The Thule Society, or simply the Thule, was a subfaction of the Nazi Party who practice occult arts, specifically the dark arts and experiments involving the dead. They have been in conflict with the Judah Initiative starting in World War ll

Contents

During World War II, the Thules emerged and funded the early days of the Nazi Party and were themselves Nazis. The Thule High Command acted as Adolf Hitler's inner circle and looked to him as a leader as well. The Thules eventually came into conflict with the Judah Initiative, a secret organization of Rabbis backed by the Men of Letters who worked to stop the Thules once and for all.

Under the command of Commandant Eckhart, one of the Thule leaders, the Thule began efforts to find a way to resurrect the dead. Eckhart and his men performed experiments on those held prisoner at the Nazi concentration camp in Vitsyebsk, Belarus. Eckhart's experiments ultimately succeeded and he resurrected many members of the Thule who had been killed using his new process. Eckhart's experiments and the names of the Thule he resurrected were recorded in the Ledger of the Thules.

In 1944, the Judah Initiative created a Golem in the ghetto of Vitsyebsk to combat the Thule. The Golem assaulted the camp headquarters at Vitsyebsk, killing multiple Nazis and Thule members. However, Eckhart managed to escape using the Cloaking Flame spell but lost the Thule ledger. The Thule chased after the ledger for decades which was found eventually after the war and ended up in a college library in Wilkes-Barr, Pennsylvania in the United States.

In 1945, Germany lost World War II and Hitler chose to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Soviets. Commandant Nauhaus, the leader of the Thule High Command came up with the plan to store Hitler's soul in a pocket watch so that the Thule could one day resurrect Hitler once more. Hitler consented to the plan and his soul was trapped in the watch after his suicide, but the Thule agents carrying the watch were killed by the Soviets and the Thule lost it. The Thule then spent the next seventy-one years chasing the watch across the world.

Following World War II, the Thules seemed to go underground as hunters had no knowledge of their existence or their activities. Despite this, Rabbi Isaac Bass, the last remaining member of the Judah Initiative remained convinced they were still out there and continued attempting to chase down and kill all of the Thule.

Rabbi Bass' murder draws the attention of Sam and Dean Winchester as well as Rabbi Bass' grandson Aaron Bass to whom Rabbi Bass had passed on ownership of the Judah Initiative's Golem and had intended for Aaron to take up the fight against the Thule. The Winchesters and Aaron are able to locate the ledger and learn from its contents of the Thules experiments into necromancy and how to properly kill one. They are later ambushed by Torvald, but the Golem kills him and the Winchesters burn Torvald's body.

Four Thule, including Eckhart eventually track the Winchesters and Aaron down and incapacitate the Golem. The Thule retrieve their ledger, but a distraction by Aaron enables the Winchesters to kill two of the Thule while Heintz escapes. Eckhart tells the Winchesters they might be able to kill him but they will never get all the Thule before Sam and Dean kill him. The Winchesters and Aaron then burn all the Thule bodies, preventing their return and Aaron takes full control of the Golem to continue the work of the Judah Initiative and hunt the Thule.

In The Vessel, in 1943, the revived Gumprecht reveals himself to be a Thule and was resurrected following his death at the hands of Delphine Seydoux. Gumprecht, with his magic enhancing the abilities of a Nazi destroyer, chases after Delphine, the USS Bluefin and a Hand of God Delphine had stolen from him. As Dean is returned to the present by Lucifer, Delphine unleashes a blast from herself using the Hand of God that obliterates the Bluefin and burns a massive hole through the Nazi destroyer, sinking it and permanently killing Gumprecht and his crew.

The two murders committed by Nauhaus draw the attention of the Winchesters who realize that they are dealing with the Thule due to the killers being after the Nazi pocket watch and spontaneous combustion being used to kill the victims. The Winchesters contact Aaron Bass who tells them that in the three and a half years since they first encountered the Thule, he and the Golem have used the Thule ledger to hunt down the members listed. Aaron and the Golem have killed half of the Thule in the ledger with Aaron getting six and the Golem the rest. The Winchesters ask about Thule activity in the United States and Aaron states that there hasn't been lately as the Thule have been staying in Germany and closing ranks. Aaron has learned from Thule documents he has been able to get that the Thule have a plan named "Das Blut" which the entire Thule High Command is involved in and will be in one place. However, Aaron doesn't know what the plan is or the Thule's connection to the watch.

While rescuing Ellie from the Thule, the Winchesters capture Christoph Nauhaus, the son of Commandant Nauhaus. Under threat, Christoph explains the Thule plan to them, but Nauhaus is able to track down Ellie and capture her once more. While the Winchesters attempt to locate Ellie and the Thule, Nauhaus has the resurrection ritual prepared and orders Christoph's death as he doesn't agree with his views. Christoph is able to kill the Thule sent to assassinate him, Fritz and betrays the Thule to the Winchesters.

With the help of Christoph, the Winchesters track the Thule to an airplane hanger, but not before they succeed in resurrecting Hitler in the body of Nauhaus. The Winchesters kill two Thule guards, but are captured by the Thule High Command who take them before Hitler. As the Thule and Hitler are distracted with the Winchesters, Ellie manages to break free and kill Hans with Sam's gun. Taking advantage of the confusion, Dean then grabs Hans' gun and kills Wolfgang and Gottfried before turning on Hitler. Though Hitler begs for mercy, Dean knocks him unconscious and executes Hitler with a shot to the head.

Following the deaths of Hitler and the Thule High Command, the Winchesters and Ellie burn their bodies so that they can't be resurrected once more and advise Christoph to go on the run as the remaining Thule will now be hunting him as a traitor for his role in the death of their leadership.

All of the known Thule members in this series have displayed certain affinity with fire-based magic. Ironically, it was also their greatest weakness, since it was the only known thing that could be used to fully dispatch them.

In Everybody Hates Hitler, the Winchesters contact Garth about the Thule and discover that neither Garth nor any of his contacts have ever heard of the Thule, meaning that the Thule have evaded detection by hunters since their creation.

When talking to the Winchesters, Christoph Nauhaus indicates that there is a younger generation of Thule members, presumably the children of the older generation born in more modern times. Christoph indicates that its the older generation that's interested in resurrecting Hitler and reliving their glory days while the younger generation might not be so radical. This is also indicated by Commandant Nauhaus' conversation with his son when Christoph tries to talk him out of his plan to resurrect Hitler.